Competition results from Formula Drift Pro Championship in Utah 18.09.2022: EVENT DETAILS ROUND 7 OF 2022 FORMULA DRIFT PRO CHAMPIONSHIP IN UTAH Date: Saturday, September 17, 2022 Location: Utah Motorsports Campus, Grantsville, UT Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 7: Type S Elevated presented by Autozone

EVENT DETAILS

ROUND 7 OF 2022 FORMULA DRIFT PRO CHAMPIONSHIP IN UTAH
Date: Saturday, September 17, 2022
Location: Utah Motorsports Campus, Grantsville, UT
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 7: Type S Elevated presented by Autozone
 



RESULTS FROM FD PRO ROUND 7

1.    Ken Gushi (Japan) – Ken Gushi Racing / Toyota Gazoo Racing NA GR86
2.    Fredric Aasbo (Norway) – Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra
3.    Chelsea DeNofa (USA) – Pennzoil / BC Racing Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD
 



NOTES



•    Ryan Tuerck (USA) arrived in Utah in third place but was the first title hopeful eliminated. He was knocked out of the Top 32 heats after a “One More Time” (OMT) battle with Mike Power (USA). While trying to apply pressure to Power in the chase position, Tuerck ran onto the dirt in Outside Zone 3 (OZ3), resulting in considerable damage to his Rain-X / Nitto Tire Toyota GR Corolla. He leaves Round 7 in fifth position


•    Championship leader, Matt Field (USA) was eliminated from the Top 16 heats after OMT with Gushi. Field collided with Gushi on their third run, requiring his 5min Competition Time Out to make repairs. On the fourth run, Field ran off the track at Inside Clip 2 (IC2). Despite his premature retirement, Field retains the Championship lead but his advantage has been reduced from 56 to 14 points


•    The Top 8 heats saw the demise of fourth-place Chris Forsberg (USA) and sixth-place Dylan Hughes (USA). Forsberg lost to a charging DeNofa who initiated into the first turn at 108mph, giving the Nissan driver a tough chase. Hughes got lost in Gushi’s smoke trail and ran off the track


•    The Top 4 heats saw fifth-place DeNofa defeated by Aasbo after the two collided in OZ2. DeNofa was ruled at fault for being off-throttle and giving Aasbo nowhere to go. DeNofa placed third and jumped from fifth to third in the 2022 title race

•    The Final was between Toyota drivers Aasbo and Gushi. However, Papadakis Racing was unable to complete repairs to Aasbo’s GR Supra in the allotted time after the DeNofa collision, handing the win to Gushi. Aasbo's second place meant he remained second in the Championship, cutting Field's lead


•    Gushi is the seventh winner from seven rounds of the 2022 FD PRO Championship. It was Gushi’s first win since the Irwindale Final in 2019. The win moves him from tenth to seventh in the standings


•    Six drivers have a mathematical chance of claiming the 2022 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship at the Final Round at Irwindale Speedway on October 14-15


•    The leading Rookie was Mike Power (USA) who finished eighth and further extended his lead in the Rookie title race, sitting in 15th place overall


•    After Round 7, Toyota remains at the top of the 2022 Formula DRIFT PRO Auto Cup while Nitto took the lead of the Tire Cup
 


ROUND 7 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

1    Ken Gushi    100
2    Fredric Aasbo    94
3    Chelsea DeNofa    80
4    Simen Olsen    80
5    Dylan Hughes    69
6    Chris Forsberg    67
7    Wataru Masuyama    67
8    Mike Power    67
9    Jhonnattan Castro    53
10    Jonathan Hurst    52
11    Aurimas Bakchis    52
12    Kazuya Taguchi    52
13    Travis Reeder    52
14    Taylor Hull    52
15    Matt Field    52
16    Daniel Stuke    52

 
2022 FD PRO TOP 16 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1    Matt Field    558
2    Fredric Aasbo    544
3    Chelsea DeNofa    492
4    Chris Forsberg    484
5    Ryan Tuerck    482
6    Dylan Hughes    459
7    Ken Gushi    404
8    Travis Reeder    394
9    Aurimas Bakchis    386
10    Wataru Masuyama    360
11    Rome Charpentier    350
12    Kazuya Taguchi    349
13    Taylor Hull    328
14    Justin Pawlak    313
15    Mike Power    311
16    Branden Sorensen    311
 



2022 AUTO CUP TOP FIVE STANDINGS

Toyota    1132
Chevrolet    886
Ford    805
Nissan    711
BMW    296
 


2022 TIRE CUP STANDINGS

Nitto Tire    1139
Falken Tire    1089
GT Radial    1066
Nexen Tire    800
Federal Tire    727
 



NEXT ROUND

Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA is the destination for the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 8: Title Fight on October 14-15. Please visit formulad.com for the competition schedule, ticket information, driver profiles, special content, and the event livestream
 


Greg Emmerson- photos FormulAD